That's right, kids. It's doughnuts. I made doughnuts. Inspired by Seattle's Top Pot Doughnuts, these little ditties are not deep-fried (much to my Southern roots' dismay) but baked. I didn't know such a thing existed! This bodes well for my hips and for yours.

Krispy Kreme is within walking distance of my apartment and when I see the HOT NOW sign lit up, I never get the urge to cross three lanes of traffic to go in. BUT! They are the doughnuts by which all others are measured (sorry Dunkin Donuts fans). Now that I've got this recipe, Krispy Kreme will be reserved for out-of-town guests who want to see what all the fuss is about.

I found the recipe at Erin Cooks (who checked out 101 Cookbooks for inspiration) and her pretty pictures got me thinking. I just had to try them. I made them at work, hoping they'd be a hit, but they weren't. Not because they didn't taste good, but like I said...this is Krispy Kreme country. Doughnuts around here must be sweet, hot, yeasty, light, filled with obscene amounts of custard, jelly or dipped in a paper-thin glaze.

Next time I make them, I think that I'll add more sugar and perhaps play with the yeast to make them lighter. I will also dip the entire ring in a thin white flat icing and letting it set before dipping/topping them with the colored icing. They're best eaten hot from the oven, but if you wait 30 minutes, the effect will still be the same. Think of them as french fries: excellent fresh from the fryer, but not so great after becoming stone cold.

2 cups confectioners' sugar1 tsp vanilla extract4-6 tablespoons milk (depending on your desired consistency)2-4 drops of food coloring (depending on your desired shade )
Place 1/3 cup of the warm milk in the bowl of an electric mixer. Stir in the yeast and set aside for five minutes or so. Be sure your milk isn’t too hot or it will kill the yeast. Stir the butter and sugar into the remaining cup of warm milk and add it to the yeast mixture. With a fork, stir in the eggs, flour, nutmeg, and salt - just until the flour is incorporated. With the dough hook attachment of your mixer beat the dough for a few minutes at medium speed. If your dough is too sticky, add flour a few tablespoons at a time. Too dry? Add more milk a bit at a time. You want the dough to pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl and eventually become supple and smooth. Turn it out onto a floured counter-top, knead a few times (the dough should be barely sticky), and shape into a ball.
Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, cover, put in a warm place, and let rise for an hour or until the dough has roughly doubled in size.
Punch down the dough and roll it out 1/2-inch thick on your floured countertop. Use a 2-3 inch cookie cutter or biscuit cutter to stamp out circles. Transfer the circles to a parchment-lined baking sheet and stamp out the smaller inner circles using a smaller cutter. If you cut the inner holes out any earlier, they become distorted when you attempt to move them. Cover with a clean cloth and let rise for another 45 minutes.
Bake in a 375 degree oven until the bottoms are just golden, 8 to 10 minutes - start checking around 8. While the doughnuts are baking, combine the confectioners sugar, milk, vanilla, and food coloring in a medium bowl.
Remove the doughnuts from the oven and let cool for just a minute or two. Dip each one in the icing. Eat immediately if not sooner.

Hmmm...could doughnuts ever be the same baked? I'd be willing to try it once. I was so pleased with myself when I made fried doughnuts for a party earlier this year. I couldn't believe I had actually done it. Baking them takes a lot of the stress out.

Can you believe that Krispy Kreme went out of business here ..I guess they just couldn't compete with the huge Tim Hortons chain here in Canada. I do love a freshly made doughnut like a honey dipped cruller!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Early last month I tried baked doughnuts yet again. My cousins came to visit for a while. They love waking up to the smell of nutmeg, cardamom, and cinnamon. I too can't resist the attraction of a good doughnut. However, I have health issues. So I took two of them only which were very high in sugar.

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About Me

Nikki Miller-Ka is a professional food blogger and food critic based in Winston-Salem. She writes and bites about local and regional restaurant trends, food organizations, food producers and everything culinary on her blog, Nik Snacks (niksnacksonline.com) and her bimonthly Casual Dining column in the Greensboro News & Record. On the weekends, she is a tour guide Taste Carolina Gourmet Food Tours.
Miller-Ka was classically trained at Le Cordon Bleu College Of Culinary Arts in Miami and holds degrees in English from East Carolina University. Formerly, she’s been a judge for the James Beard Foundation, featured in Southern Living Magazine & New York Magazine, worked an editorial assistant, news reporter and guest blogger for various publications and outlets in the Southeast. She has worked as a catering chef, a pastry chef, a butcher, a baker, and a biscuit-maker.
Presently, she resides in Winston-Salem and a proud member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, Winston-Salem Jaycees and Girl Scouts of the USA.